Returning officers on Saturday declared 149 nomination papers valid and rejected 66 across all 20 parliamentary constituencies in Dhaka following the scrutiny for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election.
Two nominations remained pending and one had been withdrawn, election officials said as the scrutiny neared completion.
The decisions were announced after the verification of a total of 238 nomination papers submitted for Dhaka's constituencies.
The scrutiny was conducted at the offices of the Dhaka divisional commissioner in Segunbagicha and the Election Training Institute in Agargaon, in line with the Election Commission's (EC) schedule.
Speaking at a press briefing in Segunbagicha, Dhaka Divisional Commissioner and Returning Officer Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury said of the 174 candidates who had submitted nomination papers in the 13 Dhaka metropolitan constituencies, 119 were found valid, 54 were rejected, and one was kept pending.
Separately, Dhaka Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Md Rezaul Karim said the scrutiny for the remaining seven district constituencies resulted in 30 valid nominations, 12 rejections, one pending decision, and one withdrawal.
The returning officers said most rejections stemmed from failure to properly verify the mandatory one per cent voter signatures for independent candidates, loan default status, missing affidavits, incomplete tax records, discrepancies in party authorisation documents, and unresolved case-related information.
Among the most politically significant decisions, the nomination of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman for Dhaka-17 was declared valid.
The returning officer also cleared BNP candidate Ishraque Hossain in Dhaka-6, alongside Jamaat-e-Islami's Abdul Mannan in the same constituency.
In Dhaka-15, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman was cleared to contest, as was BNP candidate Safiqul Islam Khan Milton.
However, three nominations in the constituency were rejected and one was kept pending due to incomplete case documentation.
The nomination of Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and a candidate of the 12-party alliance, was declared valid in Dhaka-11, while Nasiruddin Patwari, NCP's chief coordinator, secured clearance in Dhaka-8.
In Dhaka-13, Khelafat Majlis leader Maulana Mamunul Haque was cleared.
By contrast, in Dhaka-9, the nomination of Tasnim Jara, an independent candidate, was rejected due to documentation and verification issues.
She announced that she would appeal the decision to the Election Commission.
The scrutiny at the Dhaka deputy commissioner's office led to several notable disqualifications, particularly of independent candidates.
In Dhaka-2, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Colonel (retd) Abdul Haq had his nomination cancelled after the Credit Information Bureau of the Bangladesh Bank identified him as a loan defaulter.
The returning officer also cited his failure to submit income tax documents, a photocopy of his national ID card, and proposer and seconder details.
The nominations of BNP's Amanullah Aman and Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Zahirul Islam were declared valid in the constituency.
In Dhaka-3, eight nominations - including those of BNP's Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Jamaat-e-Islami's Md Shahinur Islam - were accepted, while eight others, mostly independents, were rejected due to loan default issues and discrepancies in voter data.
In Dhaka-1, five party-backed candidates were declared valid, while two nominations were rejected.
In Dhaka-19, the only independent candidate was disqualified, while 10 party candidates were cleared.
All nominations submitted for Dhaka-20 were found valid, making it the only constituency with no rejection.
Returning officers said the scrutiny of the remaining constituencies was completed without major disputes being flagged publicly, although detailed seat-wise breakdowns for some constituencies were not separately disclosed during the briefings.
Election officials said decisions were made after analysing affidavits, verifying voter lists, checking loan and tax records, and assessing candidates' legal eligibility under electoral laws.
Under the Election Commission timetable, appeals against returning officers' decisions may be filed between January 5 and 9, with hearings scheduled from 10th to 18th.
The deadline for withdrawal of candidacy is January 20, while the final list of candidates and symbol allocation will be published on January 21.
Election campaigning will begin on January 22 and continue until 7:30am on February 10.
Voting is scheduled to take place on February 12.
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